Spinning off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1999, Angel had an impressive five-season run. The series follows the ensouled vampire, Angel, as he moves from Sunnydale to L.A. in search of redemption. This quest leads him to establish a supernatural detective agency, putting him in conflict with a wide variety of villains. The show sees Angel Investigations fighting against everything from eldritch gods, to corporate lawyers.
Angel had a great rogues gallery, with many persistent antagonists whose arcs spanned seasons. While fans will endlessly debate which show is better, there's no disputing that Angel had a great rogues gallery.
10 The Beast
The Beast is probably what most people think of when they think of a Buffy-verse villain. He's a large, horned, physically imposing demon. He's also incredibly effective, hunting down multiple mystical beings, going toe to toe with Angel's evil alter ego Angelus multiple times, and successfully blotting out the sun. It took both the slayer Faith and a last-minute betrayal by Angelus to bring The Beast down.
Despite his various successes The Beast would turn out to be no more than a pawn for a much more powerful, insidious enemy. None-the-less, he will always be remembered as a powerhouse threat that almost ended the world.
9 Marcus Hamilton
The final season of Angel saw the protagonists fighting the evil law firm Wolfram and Hart from the inside. Marcus Hamilton was charged with watching over the group for the firm and proved a competent agent. The half-demon is incredibly powerful but also displays a penchant for strategy and manipulation. Adam Baldwin, best known for being part of the beloved cast of Firefly, gives the character a certain menacing charm.
Marcus was an imposing figure, but he had limited screen time and limited scope as a villain. Even so, Baldwin's performance and his final drag-out fight with Angel make him an unforgettable threat.
8 Jasmine
Perhaps the most powerful being in the entire run of Angel, Jasmine is the big bad of season 4. She initially possesses Coredellia Chase before using Cordellia's body to take on a new form, played by Firefly's Gina Torres. Jasmine is an ancient goddess who brainwashes not just Angel and his companions, but all of Los Angeles.
While many fans have never been able to forgive her for her part in removing Cordellia from the show, she's conceptually fascinating and some fans hope for her to be reimagined in the newest comic universe.
7 Sahjan
One of two big bads in season 3, Sahjan is a time-traveling demon seeking to manipulate events against Angel. Sahjan uses his temporal powers to bring an old enemy from Angel's demonic past into the present, and rewrite prophecies to manipulate Angel's actions. In terms of both power and cunning, he's a major threat.
What truly makes Shjan memorable is his anachronistic attitude, best exemplified when by his finishing a demonic ritual, then immediately stopping for a smoke break. It's this mixture of supernatural and mundane that make the buffy-verse great.
6 Daniel Holtz
Holtz is a vampire hunter from the 18th century whose family was killed by Angel's vampire alter-ego, Angelus. He's brought to the present by the demon Sahjan in order to exact his revenge. Holtz effectively splinters Angel investigations and holds his own against the vampire several times in combat. He finally takes his revenge by kidnapping Angel's newborn son and fleeing with him to a hell dimension.
His backstory and eventual fatherly affection for Angel's son Conner make Holtz one of the most sympathetic villains in the series.
5 Drusilla
Originally appearing in season 2 of Buffy Drusilla is a female vampire sired by Angelus. Mostly known for her fan-favorite relationship with Spike, she still sees Angel as a part of her broken family. In addition to her standard vampiric abilities, she has some level of precognition. However, her real power over Angel is guilt. Angel considers turning Drusilla to be the worst thing he ever did as Angelus, a fact Drusilla takes advantage of.
Drusilla's history both within the universe and with Angel personally make her a fascinating villain. The emotional and psychological harm she does Angel in her brief time on the show is downright impressive.
4 Lindsey McDonald
Lindsey is a lawyer for the demonic law firm Wolfram and Hart and a recurring antagonist. Charged with keeping tabs on Angel and pushing him towards darkness, Lindsey's role varies from scheming manipulator to direct physical threat. Eventually, his feelings of alienation from his colleagues lead Linsey to turn on Wolfram and Hart, seemingly turning over a new leaf. His return in the final season, working with Angel only to eventually betraying him is an interesting end to a deep character.
In Lindsey, Angel has a great foil. Lindsey isn't pure evil, he has moral lines he won't cross and is willing to risk his life for his beliefs. But unlike Angel he never manages to stay on the path of redemption.
3 Darla
Originally introduced in season 1 of Buffy, Darla sired Angelus and was his lover for centuries. She's resurrected by Lindsey and instructed to seduce Angel, when this seduction fails to turn Angel back into Angelus she is turned into a vampire once again by Drusilla. Her strange circumstances result in her becoming pregnant and giving birth to Angel's son Conner, dying in the process.
Darla is a villain who challenges Angel emotionally. Their long history and complicated relationship make Darla one of the most interesting, sympathetic, and important villains in Angel.
2 Lilah Morgan
As a lawyer for Wolfram and Hart Lilah is in frequent conflict with Angel and his friends. While she's a normal human, with little to no combat ability, she's one of the show's best strategic thinkers and most underhanded manipulators. She's able to outmaneuver not just Angel and his friends but her enemies within the firm as well, always staying one step ahead of everyone else.
Lilah's eventual relationship with Wesley serves to humanize her. While Lilah will always choose her own self-interest above all else she becomes a surprisingly nuanced and even sympathetic character.
1 Wolfram and Hart
The true villain of Angel isn't any singular person or even demon, it's the interdimensional, demonic, law firm Wolfram and Hart. They don't seek to destroy Angel, but rather to manipulate him like a piece on a chessboard due to his potential destiny. While many of the individual villains of the show work for the firm, it's the organization itself that consistently pokes, prods, and tempts Angel over all five seasons.
One of Angel's core themes is that fighting evil and injustice is worthwhile, even with the knowledge that it's a battle with no end. As a faceless, corporate entity, Wolfram and Hart represent this theme perfectly. It's an entrenched structure the protagonists must do their best to keep in check, rather than a monster they can slay.